Planning a surprise party? Keeping a secret? Sending someone bank or credit card information? Just plain avoiding nosey coworkers or friends? Lucky for you, no matter what mobile device you’re using or what secret you’re keeping, there’s an app for that. Here are a few apps for top-secret texting.

1) CoverText for iPhone: CoverText allows users to encrypt secret messages in photos and then email them to a recipient who must then open the picture in the app on their phone to decrypt the message. Read more about CoverText or watch the demo video here.

2) ArmorText for Android: ArmorText is designed to fit seamlessly into your phone’s design without looking out of place and can act as a normal texting app as well. With a simple swipe of the armor switch, your message is secure. You can also control who views your texts and for how long. Find out more about ArmorText here.

3) Black SMS for iPhone: Black SMS is a somewhat labor intensive app but if you really want something kept secret, it’s a good one. Simply download the app and make sure whoever you’re texting in secret has the app as well. When you send a message, the text will appear as a black bubble until the recipient copies the text into Black SMS on their phone to read it. Learn more about Black SMS here.

4) TigerText for Android, Blackberry and iPhone: With TigerText, senders can choose how long they would like a text to stay on a recipient’s phone after they open it, from 30 days to 60 seconds as long as both texters have the app. Believe it or not, TigerText is becoming extra popular not just for personal use but also for professional use. Doctors enjoy the fact that they can use the service to send confidential material to each other. Screenwriters like that they can share self-deleting ideas that, if made public, could ruin a concept. Learn more about TigerText here.

Soooooo many steps. Would you ever go through the trouble of sending secret texts? Which app would you use?